NJW&C 25: All The Many Things
Hey, Kids! It’s Nice Jewish Words & Comics!, the latest installment from Neil Kleid's bi-monthly newsletter with updates and info about his latest projects!
To kick off June, Happy Pride Month, all, and here’s your host and the author of this newsletter at fifty:

Looking backwards—even just the past decade—makes me realize just how much I have accomplished in my personal and professional lives, even within ten short years. When I turned forty, everyone I knew joked around that my younger, hungrier, more ambitious years were behind me. But I’m finding that with each passing year, I have more drive and determination to prove myself, to accomplish more with my life, to hit the next level and succeed in any challenges—both from myself and from others—that come my way.
And I’m only getting started, friends. The best—from my design career, from my writing career, from my personal and professional ambitions—is yet to come. Never let anyone tell you that fifty is too old to start making your mark.
Here’s to the next fifty years. Bring them the fuck on.
ALL THE WORK, NEWS AND THINGS WE’RE ENJOYING THIS SPRING, BUT FIRST ONE LAST APPEAL FOR THE RINGO AWARDS
It is June, and June 19th is the last day for you to vote for my comics in this year’s annual Ringo Awards, where both professionals and fans celebrate the creativity, skill and fun of comics. Again, both Nice Jewish Boys and Kings and Canvas are eligible for nomination this year, and we’d appreciate your vote (and your friends + family’s votes, if so inclined.) You can VOTE FOR US HERE AT THIS LINK and learn more about the Ringo Awards at this link.

For Your Consideration, here’s a list of potential nominations for you to add, depending on the book you like:
Best Writer: Neil Kleid (Nice Jewish Boys, Kings and Canvas)
Best Artist: John Broglia (Nice Jewish Boys), Jake Allen (Kings and Canvas)
Best Colorist: Ellie Wright (Nice Jewish Boys), Frank Reynoso (Kings and Canvas)
Best Continuing or Limited Series: Nice Jewish Boys
Best Single Issue or Story: Nice Jewish Boys #3
Best Original Graphic Novel: Kings and Canvas - Outland Entertainment / CEX Publishing
Best Presentation in Design: Nice Jewish Boys - Comixology Originals
Favorite Hero: Mammoth - Kings and Canvas
Favorite Villain: Chaim Davidovits - Nice Jewish Boys
Favorite New Series: Nice Jewish Boys - Comixology Originals
Favorite Publisher: Comixology Originals

Thank you again for considering my work, and thanks for voting!
AND NOW, ALL THE OTHER WORK
Things have picked up here at Kleid Writing Headquarters over the last month, and I am happy to say that the 2025 Writing PlanTM has changed once again.
We left 2024 with the plan to write Projects ‘Mantle’, ‘Wonka’, ‘Vigilant’, ‘Taylor’ pitches for ‘Orlando’ and ‘Long Ago’, and potentially completing the first book in ‘Project Red.’

I’m happy to say that in one short week, all of the writing for ‘Mantle’ will be complete (I still have three issues to letter and design.) Issues #1 and #2 are finished and approved, and art for the third issue is sliding in. Here’s a new sneak peek:

I’ve reached 48k words on ‘Project Vigilant’ (a spec prose novel), and 77 pages in ‘Project Taylor’ (a spec screenplay), and I still hope to finish both…but ‘Project Wonka’ has now gone from a short story (15k words) to a full-on novella (approx, 50k words) and has been fast-tracked by its publisher, so I need to put the other two aside to complete it for now. Remember? Writing Plans are superfluid, and paid work always comes first. And speaking of superfluid, shiny new ideas will often come in and supplant ideas you may be struggling with. To wit, my birthday trip (see below) fostered a new cool crime idea I’m calling ‘Project Main Street’ and I’l be writing up that pitch over the next two weeks as I start ‘Wonka’ and finish ‘Mantle.’ In addition, I had interest generated for a few older ideas—‘Project Dog Days’ and ‘Project Sukkah’—which may move those up the list if contracts come together. Finally, me and some fellow Jewish creators are talking about something fun and new that could be a thing before I know it, so I may have to leave a little time on my plate to get that done, too.
So, yeah. What is Neil writing for the next six months (for right now, that is)?
Project Mantle (4 issues written; issue 5 being dialogued now)
Project Wonka (50 words, due Fall 2025)
Pitches for comics: Projects Main Street, Orlando and Long Ago
Completing Project Taylor (currently at 77/110 pages)
Tentative: Project Vigilant (currently at 48k/85k words)
Again, this precludes any of the other things getting fast-tracked by a contract, as well as any paid, licensed work that may finally appear. Heck, a phone call with an editor earlier this month actually gave me yet another graphic novel idea that I am honestly dumbfounded that no one has ever had. Add ‘Project 1925’ to the list—I’ve already sent a springboard to that editor. We’ll see if it becomes A Thing.
Still—that’s quite a plate. Thankfully, I have a healthy appetite. Let’s eat, shall we?
AND NOW, ALL THE NEWS
So, let’s first talk about Pots and Panels for a moment. There’s a lot of text here, so if you don’t care about this book or the campaign—and why it’s so delayed—feel free to skip down past it to the “Lightning Round.”
Anyway, here we go.

I know some of you backed what was supposed to be a fun, wonderful combination of comics and cooking—many encouraged by yours truly, for which I thank you—especially because the book contains a new Savor story by me, Broglia, and Reynoso. Again, you can read that story for free right here.
But, yeah. You should have had your book by now. And for that, because the chaos involved with the campaign that has been outside my control, I am sorry.
Essentially—without naming names or going into details—the organizers of the anthology have, well…stopped talking to the contributors. Yes, those of you who backed the book and were entitled to the digital version have received it (if you haven’t, check your messages from Kickstarter or BackerKit to see if it’s waiting for you.) But the print edition? The big old brick of a book with all the stories and all of the recipes and all of the everything?
Dudes and dudettes…the book was printed a while ago. But no one decided to pay the printer until the end of May.
But you’ll say, Neil, this project funded back in November 2024 and was supposed to reach the campaign’s backers in February. Zut alors, you might say. And I might say, “you’re goddamn right, mon frere.”
Here’s a few other things I might say:
The key campaign coordinator—the editor, the guy who brought me in, the guy who vouched for the book and for others contributing to it, even though I knew this editor and had a weird opinion of him from the very first time we met, when he oddly muscled into my very first comic book signing (one I organized and coordinated) at Midtown Comics back in 2006)—yeah, well this guy has gone AWOL. First because of personal reasons (Day job? Marriage? Health? I’ve have heard the odd update here and there—via email from him at first, and then through others who have been trying to reach him via text and DM), and then he just...went dark. Radio silence. He stopped posting on social media, and poof, he’s gone.
The printer had apparently already printed the books but had not been paid and so did not ship them, despite repeated promises from the editor and key financial backer to GET them paid, the deadlines for which blew past time and again. Backers kept getting updates that the books were coming, but the contributors involved knew that wasn’t happening soon and the key financial backer threw other book organizers and contributors under the bus to backers when those people tried to publicly explain why the books had not yet arrived. What I can say is this: as of last week, I heard the printers were given HALF of their expected payment, and that the books are now, finally, shipping to the editor and key financial backer. When those books will reach your mailboxes, frankly, is up to them now. But more importantly…if the funds were collected, why wasn’t the printer paid in full? Why did it take so long to pay them, despite repeated requests by the printer—and the contributors—to get the printer paid? Have they also paid for and fulfilled the additional promised add-on items, like shirts and so forth? I can’t say for certain.
Additionally, some of the creators who pitched in with lettering, coloring and design work for Pots and Panels for promised pay have yet to be paid, as well. (For clarity’s sake: the majority of the contributors—like me, John, and Frank—did so with the understanding that we would be paid in copies, not money. But now it looks like that may not even happen. Many contributors who did coloring, lettering and design work were, however promised money.) Some have been paid; others have not. In addition, apparently there’s a history of the editor leaving his colorists, letterers and designers in the financial lurch on previous projects and campaigns.
Ultimately, there are funds held in escrow to pay for the books, and I assume the printer was finally paid from those funds. There are concerns by some of the contributors involved that something funny happened with those funds. No one but the editor and key backer have access to the account, so nobody knows for certain. According to contributors closer to the financial side of things than I am, the campaign was not going to reach its goal, so the editor and key backer came up with an idea that the key backer would pledge his own money to bridge the gap. Once the campaign funded, he took control of all the funds, first repaying to himself what he pledged (and rumor has it—I don’t know if this is true—an interest fee.) That, along with the editor paying a few creators along with the Kickstarter fee, may not have left enough in the account to pay for printing and shipping, which is probably why the printer has yet to be paid in full.
Contributors have asked time and again when the printer and those artists promised pay will be paid in full, when the books will ship to backers—which, at this point, is all many of us want to have happen—but we have been given dates and timelines that keep slipping. I hope, now that the books have shipped from the printer, that will mean they are coming to backers soon. As mentioned, both the editor and key backer have gone radio silent to the contributors. In fact, the latter has locked down his social media, and we are all in this weird place where we're not sure when the book will ship. Every now and then the key backer appears on the campaign page with an update, telling backers that everything the contributors are saying is not true and the books are coming. Honestly? I hope they are. But at this point I have lost faith in both those guys, and am wary about the things they say, do, and promise.
That’s what I know. If you did back the book—especially if you did so because of me—I am truly sorry that it is taking this long to resolve. I don’t know if you can still get a refund via Kickstarter, but you can probably lodge a complaint against the organizer and at the very least, maybe get them banned from Kickstarter? I can tell you this—if you are a newer creator or someone looking for your way in via anthologies or indie gigs, don’t work with either of those guys. Steer clear. And please know that if you pull shenanigans on campaigns of your own, people do talk in this industry. The community is small and its memory is long. These are the kinds of things that can end a career in comics, simply because no one will want to collaborate with you ever again, for fear of being burned one way or the other.
If you have private concerns—as a backer, a creator or contributor, or as someone going through something similar— feel free to reach out to me privately and I will try to offer advice or help within my limited capability.
But, yeah. Don’t be those guys. Okay?
OTHER BITS OF NEWS: LIGHTNING ROUND!

I’m going to try and keep this update apolitical (I reserve the right to change that position later for future installments), but yeah; the world is freaking crazy right now and getting crazier. Stay safe out there, especially my friends in NYC, Colorado and Washington, and on the streets of Los Angeles. Stay safe, stay together. I definitely will not engage on this, but maybe “more dead Jews on the street” and the justifications for it isn’t the answer we need. This article by Yair Rosenberg is worth a read.
Your friend Neil was lucky enough to do a fun little interview with his friends Dean Haspiel and Vito Delsante, in their video interview series VITO X DINO. I’ve been lucky and privileged enough to know both Vito and Dean for a good, long while and have worked with both—Dean and I collaborated on two short stories for DC Comics, and Vito was one my partners in The Chemistry Set, an online collective of creators making webcomics for fun and little profit. Both of them are great writers, fantastically knowledgeable about comics and the industry, and two good pals. Give us a listen as we talk about, well, just about everything. I think this conversation made me realize that come hell or high water, it’s time for my original Jewish superhero. Who wants to draw/co-author it with me?
This past month, we lost the great Peter David, whose work was pretty crucial during my formative years of learning to enjoy—and write—comic books. I was so sad to see that he had passed. I have been a fan for decades, and loved his run on The Hulk, Captain Marvel and the Dark Tower comics. He was so nice and gracious to me when I was covering the Dark Tower comics for Marvel.com, and brought joy and laughter to me and readers like me.
Marvel’s Dark Tower adaptation, written by Peter David
Peter’s Hulk run with his co-authors, by the way, is such a roller coaster of angst, triumph, tragedy, humor and emotion. I highly recommend Future Imperfect, but the main storyline up to and especially his final issue. With Ariel Olivetti, he penned the amazing The Last Avengers Story; seek it out if you can. He will be greatly missed. The saddest thing is that Peter’s legacy will not only live on in cinematic depictions of characters + stories he created for less compensation than he deserved, but also in shitty AI-driven stories trained on all the work he sweated over for years, stolen by jealous, talented wannabes.
Peter’s wife Kathleen still needs a lot of help with the massive medical debt she incurred during his long-term care. If you can, please donate here.My friends John and Taki are offering up a fun, grounded comic called Alienated via our pals at Comixology Originals. At the time of this writing, issue #3 is available. Give it a read, won’t you?
REJOICE, for there are new Powers comics coming from our pals Brian Bendis and Mike Oeming, with covers by David Mack! You all now that I’m a big fan Powers, and am the only writer other than Brian to have written original (non-televised) fiction featuring these characters. I honestly took the job because I am not only a huge fan of the comic, but also the creators (both of whom I am proud to call friends.) If you have yet to try Powers, there is a huge library of volumes available via many different publishers, but right now you can pick them up from our friends at Dark Horse Comics.
Here's why i dig the new MCU Fantastic Four theme music by Michael Giacchino: while the Avengers theme is grandoise, and evokes epic world-saving feats of strength and power, the FF theme here gives me the feels of exploration, inspiration, and the promise of tomorrow, which is what that team is really all about. The new theme reminds me of the EPCOT and Tomorrowland themes you hear filtered through the speakers when you stroll through Disney World, and those areas also have kind of a retro, nineteen-sixtyish vibe that perfectly pairs with Giacchino’s music. Can’t wait for this thing in July.
Are you a wannabe comics creator? Mad Cave Studios’ annual talent search contest is now open for business. Give it a read, see if you’re eligible, get in your entries and good luck!
The new DC GO webcomics are EXACTLY the kind of thing DC Comics (and Marvel, tbh) should be doing. There should ALWAYS be a Shazam! book targeted to all ages, and a webcomic makes complete sense. A Warlord web comic? A food-centric book? THIS is how to target younger readers. By the way, I pitched a food-centric Star Wars mini titled Taste of The Galaxy last year that didn't get traction (Top Chef—and rebels!—in a galaxy far, far away!), and I would have loved to write that. But in its place, I'm totally going to devour Taste of Justice.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Art + Commerce = Deadpool vs Batman. I mean, this makes sense to me, right? Two of the most popular and recognizable characters in the mainstream right now. Comics is a business, friends. The DC Comics side of the story is authored by Grant Morrison/Dan Mora. So, yes—congrats to us ALL
I dunno the whole Mark Millar thing doesn’t surprise me as it’s completely aligned with my impression of who Mark Millar has always been.
AND NOW, ALL THE THINGS WE’RE ENJOYING

Andor ended so well, y’all. Man, did Gilroy, Luna and team—çast, crew, creatives—stick the landing. Easily in my top five Star Wars. Breathtaking, gripping, insightful, inspiring all around. I know we missed Star Wars Day here on the newsletter, but every May the 4th I draw a lil Star Wars sketch. This year, it was Cassian's lil’ droid pal B2EMO.
Finally got around to Reversal by Alex De Campi, Skye Patridge and Kelly Fitzpatrick, and it was quite a fun, complex, enjoyable read. Beautiful art, fantastic world-building. In fact, I wish I could do world-building as effortlessly as this book does. Give it a read, y’all

So yes, I turned fifty last month and as a present to myself, took a little trip to Louisville, Kentucky to travel the Bourbon Trail. I am a big bourbon enthusiast, and have been wanting to do this for a good, long while and figure, hey—you only celebrate fifty once (until, that is, someone invents a personal home time-travel kit.) I spent three days mid-May visiting a bunch of distilleries, learning about both the history of and process of making really good bourbon. And sure, I picked up a few bottles and gifts along the way:
Happy birthday to ME
But the one other thing I got that I loved was a copy of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler. Not only is the book and the history of bourbon in Kentucky fascinating, but it’s unsurprising to me how many distilleries and brands were bankrolled and conceived by Jews post-war whose names never graced a bottle because they were Jews. Here’s an article about bourbon and Jews by Mitenbuler in the Atlantic, pulled from the book.Overall, both the trip—and the book—inspired a brand-new comics pitch, a contemporary crime story I’ve code-named ‘Project Main Street.’ I’ll be typing up the pitch doc sometime this week or next.
Check out this hot baseball bat, carved as a lightsaber for Star Wars Night!
Oh, and while I was in Louisville, I also got me a custom baseball bat at the Louisville Slugger Museum + Factory, where I also held game-used baseball bats by Detroit Tigers great Alan Trammell and the inimitable Babe Ruth. Don’t fret none about the inscription on my new bat…yet. ‘Project Mantle’, coming at ya late 2025 from Comixology Originals (wink wink.)THE BOSS. ‘Project Mantle’ from Comixology Originals TO ME, MY STARJAMMERS Oh, and look at this rad 50th birthday present I got from my brother—it’s the first appearance of the goddamn Starjammers, yo. I love how folks on social media have been like "open it and read it" like i haven't already read this issue one hundred times already. This wasn't the birthday wish I made this year, but I would really love to write a Starjammers comic book, universe and any Marvel editors reading this thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90VptqEUi4sI just learned about this movie last week and then saw it Saturday night, and now you have learned about it, too. If you’re in the New York-New Jersey area (or anywhere that it’s playing) and can get out to a showing, check out Bad Shabbos. Great cast, funny, tense, authentic. Method Man steals the show. This is the kind of contemporary Jewish writing I’m always aiming for with my own work.
Why am I just learning / realizing now that Kristen Schaal and Flo from Progressive were in the first episode of Mad Men?!
Mark Hamill on what order you should watch the Star Wars movies: “I don’t care.” I suppose you either die a Mark Hamill, or live long enough to see yourself become the Harrison Ford
If you haven’t seen it yet, The Studio with Seth Rogen and many others on AppleTV ended quite strongly with a Weekend At Bernie’s riff, more cameos than the show knew what to do with, and one of the Kleid family’s favorite Disney World songs.. I quite enjoyed this series, and am really digging almost everything that streaming service has been offering lately. We’re a few episodes into the new Jon Hamm / Olivia Munn / Amanda Peet joint, Your Friends and Neighbors, and we are fans of Severence with Adam Scott, John Turturro, and many others; Shrinking with Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, and Jessica Williams; Platonic, with Rogen again and Rose Byrne; and Loot with Maya Rudolph and Scott once more. But I just got into Mythic Quest this week, which is something I should not have been pushing off for this long. “Zero is our target number of Nazis.” It took a few episodes but yeah, okay Mythic Quest, I get it If you’re a gamer or part of the industry, give it a look. You’ll be glad you did.
Here’s my annual reminder that someone at Image Comics should really collect the series 1963 by Moore, Bissette, Totleben, and Veitch.
Some other fun comic books I’ve read this month include:
Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez, a fantastic and haunting and trippy and fun take on the classic DC Comics character.
Finally read Animal Pound by Tom King and Peter Gross and damn that book hits pretty close to home fascism-wise, especially in the face of the last year here in the U.S.. Also? Poor, poor rabbits.
I’ve also been burning through The Wicked + Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie + team for the first time, and while I may not understand every bit of it, it’s incredibly clever, engaging, beautiful, and compelling. Also, I need a clockwork owl in my life. One more volume to go! I know they are soon offering a big old single volume edition, and I love being able to devour stories in single volumes. I know its cost-prohibitive to print bricks and creators (like me) prefer that you buy single issues, then individual trades...but selfishly as a reader, this is the way I prefer to absorb comics, especially those I've missed: all at once.
That’s it for this month. We’ll end on a quote from my buddy Tony Lee:
“Survivors survive. Goddamned winners like us THRIVE.”
See all you winners in July.
xoxo
NK
MIGDAL: Neil Kleid's Nice Jewish Words & Comics is free! Tell your friends, enemies and interested dragons. If you enjoyed this email, you can show Neil that his writing is valuable to you by checking out his books here and supporting independent comix: https://bookshop.org/shop/neilkleid